Benedict XVI: Man Must Lovingly Accompany Those who Suffer

You contribute decisively to the building of the civilization of love. Even more, you are the protagonists of this civilization. Gratitude and encouragement are the notes on which the meeting took place between Benedict XVI and the family of the foundation of the San Jose Institute Foundation in Madrid, which gives specialized assistance to people with physical or mental handicaps. Facing pain, which leaves uncertainties particularly when it appears on the horizon of a young life, the Pope restated the dignity of every human life, created in the image of God. The special predilection of God for those who suffer, in fact, leads us to look at the other with clear vision, to give, in addition to the external things they need, the loving gaze that they need. And it is precisely this existence of suffering, Benedict XVI explained, that inspires in our often hardened hearts, a tenderness that opens us to salvation. Your life and dedication, he concluded, proclaims the greatness to which man is called: to have compassion and to accompany with love those who suffer, as God has done.